HIV in Turkey, a country bridging the Islamic world and Europe

摘要

The last conference of the International AIDS Society in Kuala Lumpur in 2013 drew attention to the underestimated number of people with HIV/AIDS in Muslim countries. Turkey is located at the intersection of two continents, with the ancient city of Istanbul located in Europe and the larger part of the country, Anatolia, located in Asia. Turkey borders countries with high reported rates of sexually transmitted diseases. Three cases of HIV/AIDS were reported in Turkey in 1985, and the number of cases has increased ever since. According to Turkish Ministry of Health (MoH) data from 2012, there are 5137 HIV-positive cases and 1051 AIDS cases registered in Turkey [1]. During the last few decades, the primary focus of diagnostic, therapeutic and scientific work in Turkey was on Hepatitis B, C and D, and to lesser extent on HIV. Today, HIV/AIDS is considered to be an emerging disease in Turkey (Fig. 1).